Bears manage another overtime win, beat Packers 20-17

The more the other NFC contenders played, the better Chicago’s playoff prospects looked.

Matt Trowbridge

The more the other NFC contenders played, the better Chicago’s playoff prospects looked.

Sooner or later, though, the Bears had to play themselves. And after four losses by their rivals the day before put Chicago into the thick of the playoff mix, the Bears looked for 59 minutes as if they would play themselves back out of the playoffs.

Instead, they remained alive by pulling out their second consecutive improbable overtime win, edging the Green Bay Packers 20-17 on Monday night.

Kyle Orton threw passes of 17 yards to Greg Olsen and 14 yards to Matt Forte on third-and-8 to set up Robbie Gould’s 38-yard field goal on the first drive of overtime. The Bears rallied in similar fashion to edge the Saints last week.

For the second week in a row, the Bears’ offense lived down to the worst preseason fears but was bailed out by great special teams play as the Bears (9-6) won three games in a row for the first time since their 2006 Super Bowl season.

Forte awoke a dormant running game by gaining 48 yards on a 51-yard drive to tie the game with 3:11 to play. That included a 28-yard run to start the drive, a 2-yard run on fourth-and-2 from the 5 and the game-tying TD on the next play.

Will Blackmon returned the ensuing kickoff 32 yards and a 15-yard late-hit penalty on Adrian Peterson gave Green Bay the ball on the Bears’ 35, but Chicago blocked a 38-yard field to force overtime.

The Bears trailed 14-3 at the half, scoring their only points on a 31-yard Robbie Gould field goal after a 70-yard kickoff return by Danieal Manning, who dragged Green Bay cornerback Jarrett Bush the final 28 yards.

Last week, three Chicago turnovers set up 17 of the Saints’ 24 points in a 27-24 overtime win for the Bears. Monday, the Bears gained only 48 yards in the first half and had just two first downs.

The defense, rejuvenated the previous two weeks, started strong, stopping Green Bay on its first three drives. The third ended when defensive Alex Brown intercepted a pass tipped by Manning on a safety blitz. That gave the Bears the ball on the Green Bay 48, and Chicago picked up its initial first down of the game just before the end of the first period, but punted three plays later.

Green Bay (6-9) then drove 91 yards in 14 plays, taking the lead by converting on three do-or-die plays. Aaron Rodgers passed 10 yards to Greg Jennings on third-and-5, backup quarterback Matt Flynn ran for 6 yards on a fourth-and-2 fake punt and Rodgers threw a 7-yard TD pass to Jennings on third-and-4.

Manning returned the ensuing kickoff 70 yards – his fourth return of more than 50 yards the last three weeks – to set up Chicago’s field goal. But the Packers answered that field goal with a 58-yard TD drive.

Ryan Grant, who ran for a season-high 145 yards in Green Bay’s 37-3 win over the Bears five weeks ago, had been held to 2 yards on his first six carries. But he gained 24 yards on his final four carries of the Packers’ first TD drive. And he scored Green Bay’s second TD on a 17-yard screen pass on first-and-15, bouncing off rookie safety Craig Steltz at the 10.

Rodgers completed 16 of 24 passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns the first half, with the Packers outgaining Chicago 221 yards to 48.

Special teams again got the Bears back into the game when Bush muffed a punt and backup fullback Jason Davis recovered at the Green Bay 28. Orton’s 21-yard pass to tight end Desmond Clark set up a 3-yard TD pass on third down to fellow tight end Olsen.

Chicago stayed close when Green Bay missed a field goal on its next drive, but Orton then threw a horrible interception straight to Charles Woodson, who returned it 22 yards to the Bears’ 30 before being tackled by Orton.

DeShawn Wynn ran 4 yards on fourth-and-1 to the 5 to keep the drive alive. The Bears then pushed Green Bay 5 yards backward on the next three plays and the Packers settled for a 28-yard field goal and a 17-10 lead.

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